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268 recipes

Kati kati

From Kom country near Bamenda, kati kati is chicken cooked twice: first grilled over open coals until smoky and charred in places, then chopped and simmered briefly in red palm oil with onion and hot pepper until every piece is lacquered. It turns up at celebrations in the North West and in Bamenda chop houses, always with fufu corn and a heap of njama njama. The flavour is smoky, rich and fiery, and the sauce is thick enough to cling, not pool. A charcoal grill gives the best flavour, though a hot oven grill works well. Chef's tip: chop the grilled chicken into small pieces before it goes into the pot, so the palm oil sauce reaches every surface.

75 min

Cameroonian Chicken

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Sweet okok

Okok leaves come from a wild forest vine, and in the Centre region market women sit shaving them into hair-fine ribbons with razor-sharp knives so cooks can take them home ready to use. The Beti way is to cook them with plenty of freshly ground groundnuts and, in the version many people grew up on, a spoonful of sugar, which turns the pot into a thick, nutty, gently sweet green stew. Expect a pleasant chew from the leaves and a creamy body from the peanuts; there is no palm oil here at all. Serve it with slices of bobolo or boiled cassava for a classic Yaoundé lunch. The usual mistake is adding the groundnut paste too early and not stirring, so it scorches on the base. Chef's tip: wash the shredded leaves in at least three changes of water, rubbing them between your hands, to remove the fine grit that collects in the ribbons.

90 min

Cameroonian Vegetarian

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Miondo

Douala's Duala families wrap their cassava dough into slim sticks no thicker than a finger, and bundles of miondo tied with string are stacked at every market from Akwa to New Bell. The roots are soaked for several days until they soften and sour, then ground smooth, drained, rolled, wrapped in leaves and boiled until firm and slightly translucent. The result is chewy, gently tangy and neutral enough to soak up ndolé, grilled fish or a fiery pepper sauce, and peeling back the leaf is part of the pleasure. Plan ahead: the soaking takes 3–4 days and the draining a few hours more, though the hands-on work is about an hour. Chef's tip: roll the sticks no thicker than your little finger so they cook through evenly; fat ones stay pasty in the middle.

150 min

Cameroonian Basics

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Kondre

For weddings, funerals, the enthronement of a chief or the return of a relative from abroad, the Bamileke of the West Region cook kondre. Chunks of goat are stewed slowly with green plantain, tomato and a fragrant blend of local spices including white pepper, pebe and country onion, until the plantain melts at the edges and thickens the sauce. The result is earthy, peppery and very satisfying, eaten straight from the bowl with nothing else alongside. Beef or lamb can replace goat; pebe and country onion are sold in Cameroonian grocers, with nutmeg and a pinch of clove standing in at a pinch. Marinate the meat in the fridge, never on the counter. Chef's tip: give the goat a full hour on its own before the plantain goes in; the meat needs far longer to soften.

125 min

Cameroonian Meat

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Accra banane

Morning street corners in Douala smell of frying banana: vendors drop very ripe fruit and flour batter into deep oil and sell accra banane by the paper bag, often with a bowl of bouillie or a plate of beans. Crisp at the edges and soft, sweet and almost custardy inside, these little puffs need nothing more than mashed bananas, flour, sugar and a pinch of nutmeg. Children love them after school, and they are a thrifty way to rescue fruit that has turned black. A frequent slip is using underripe bananas, which give heavy, bland fritters. Chef's tip: use bananas so ripe the skins are mostly black; firmer yellow ones give a dry, bland fritter.

30 min

Cameroonian Snacks & Starters

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Mintumba

Golden and glossy with red palm oil, mintumba is the richer cousin of bobolo, baked or steamed in leaves in the Centre region and eaten as a snack or alongside sauce, grilled fish or roasted groundnuts. The soured cassava dough is kneaded with oil and a little salt, then wrapped and cooked until it sets into a dense, chewy loaf with a toasty crust where it touched the leaf. Its flavour is tangy, earthy and buttery from the oil. Start with bought fermented cassava paste from an African grocer, or make the dough as for bobolo. Don't wrap the dough loosely; gaps let water in and the parcels turn soggy. Chef's tip: warm the palm oil until just liquid before kneading it in; poured in solid, it streaks the dough instead of colouring it evenly.

80 min

Cameroonian Basics

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Nnam ngon with mushrooms

Steamed parcels of nnam ngon turn up at Beti weddings, funerals and big Sunday tables in the Centre, unwrapped to reveal a firm, pale cake of ground pumpkin seeds that slices like a terrine. The seeds are ground with onion, garlic, ginger and hot pepper, then bound with water and steamed slowly in leaves until rich, savoury and almost meaty. Smoked fish is the classic addition; here browned mushrooms take its place, so the parcels are vegan and still very filling. Serve with bobolo, boiled plantain or sweet ripe plantain. Chef's tip: brown the mushrooms in a dry pan first; added raw, they release water inside the parcel and leave the mixture loose.

120 min

Cameroonian Vegetarian

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Mbongo tchobi

The Bassa people of the Littoral, between Douala and Édéa, are famous for mbongo tchobi, fish cooked in a startling jet-black sauce. The colour comes from mbongo, the pods of a wild plant in the ginger family, charred over a flame until black and ground with onion, garlic, ginger and njansang; the taste is smoky, peppery and deeply aromatic rather than burnt. Freshwater fish such as carp or tilapia is traditional, simmered gently in the sauce for family gatherings and in Douala restaurants, with boiled plantain, miondo or rice on the side. If mbongo is hard to find, charred black cardamom with grains of paradise gives a similar smoky warmth. Chef's tip: shake the pan instead of stirring once the fish goes in, so the pieces stay whole.

65 min

Cameroonian Fish

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Kossam

Fulani herders of the Adamawa plateau measure hospitality in kossam: a calabash of cool milk offered to a guest after a long ride, or sold in Ngaoundéré's markets fresh in the morning and pleasantly soured by afternoon. Fresh kossam is simply creamy whole milk, sometimes sweetened, drunk cold with couscous or on its own as a light meal in the heat of the day. For the tangy soured style, stir two spoonfuls of live plain yoghurt into the milk, leave it somewhere warm for 8–12 hours until thickened, then chill. Traditionally it is made with raw milk; at home, always use pasteurised. Chef's tip: chill the milk for several hours and whisk the sugar in hard just before serving, which gives the light froth you see on calabash-served kossam.

5 min

Cameroonian Drinks

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Nkui

Bamileke families in the West Region cook nkui for celebrations, and it is also a traditional food for new mothers in the weeks after a birth. Bark from the nkui shrub is steeped and squeezed until the water turns long and slippery, then simmered with a peppery blend of local spices and finished with okra for an even stronger draw. The soup is thin, silky and warming rather than rich, with a woody, citrusy heat. Lift it with a ball of fufu corn and let the strands trail from your fingers. Look for the bark and the spice mix in Cameroonian grocers; grated okra alone gives a lighter but similar draw. The usual mistake is boiling the soup hard after whisking; it loses its draw. Keep it at a bare simmer. Chef's tip: whip the soup hard with a whisk right after adding the potash; the beating is what builds the stretchy strands.

60 min

Cameroonian Soups

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Njama njama and fufu corn

Every chop house in Bamenda has its own pot of njama njama, the bitter-sweet huckleberry leaf that grows in Grassfields gardens, served next to a smooth white dome of fufu corn. The leaves are boiled briefly to tame their bitterness, squeezed and then stir-fried with onion, tomato and pepper until tender and glossy. Pinch off some fufu, press a dent into it with your thumb and use it to scoop up the greens; at home, grilled chicken or kati kati often joins the plate. Frozen huckleberry leaves are sold in African grocers, and spinach with a little kale is a fair stand-in. Avoid skipping the blanching of the huckleberry leaves; unblanched they stay bitter. Chef's tip: squeeze the blanched leaves hard by the handful; leftover water dilutes the tomato base and makes the greens soggy.

50 min

Cameroonian Vegetarian

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Corn chaff

Big pots of corn chaff are everyday food in the North West, from Bamenda's Food Market to boarding-school dining halls, where maize and beans stretch a long way. Dried corn and beans are simmered until soft, then folded into a red palm oil sauce with onion, tomato and hot pepper, with a handful of greens stirred through at the end. The result is hearty and chewy with a deep, slightly smoky sweetness from the oil, and it tastes even better the next day. Serve it in bowls, with ripe avocado on the side when it is in season. Soak the maize and beans overnight. Chef's tip: give the dried maize a head start of about 45 minutes before adding the beans, because it takes far longer to soften.

120 min

Cameroonian Vegetarian

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Couscous de maïs

Across the North, from Garoua's riverside neighbourhoods to the Adamawa plateau around Ngaoundéré, the evening meal is usually couscous de maïs: not the steamed grains of North Africa but a stiff, smooth maize paste shaped into domes with a wet calabash. It is eaten with the right hand, dipped into slippery okra sauce, leaf sauces or a tomato and groundnut stew. The flavour is mild and sweet like fresh corn, and the texture firm enough to hold the dent made by your thumb. Use fine maize meal; coarse polenta gives a gritty result. Chef's tip: let the first handful of meal cook undisturbed on the simmering water for a few minutes before stirring; it forms a raft that blends in without lumps.

27 min

Cameroonian Basics

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Ekwang with mushrooms

Rolling ekwang is a job for many hands: in the Southwest and around Douala, relatives sit together grating cocoyam and tucking it into leaves for a festive Sunday or a homecoming. The little green cigars are packed into a pot, drenched in red palm oil and left to simmer until the grated tuber binds into soft, almost creamy rolls in a rich, glossy sauce. Smoked fish and crayfish are the usual partners; this meat-free version gets its depth from fresh and dried mushrooms and a pinch of smoked paprika, so it suits vegetarian and vegan guests alike. Serve it on its own, scooping up the sauce, or with boiled plantain. Chef's tip: grate the cocoyam on the finest holes, almost to a purée, so the rolls hold together; coarse shreds stay separate and the pot turns grainy.

135 min

Cameroonian Vegetarian

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Roasted safou

When the rainy season brings fresh maize to Cameroon, the safou trees fruit at the same time, and roadside grills from Douala to Yaoundé sell the violet plums alongside charred corn cobs. A few minutes over embers turns the firm, sour flesh soft, buttery and slightly tangy, which is why safou is often called the African butter fruit. People peel back the skin with their teeth, scrape the pale green flesh off the stone and alternate bites with sweet corn or a chunk of boiled plantain. Look for fresh or frozen safou in African grocers. Chef's tip: a pinch of salt sprinkled on while the fruit is hot brings out its savoury, olive-like side.

12 min

Cameroonian Snacks & Starters

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Esterházytorte

Named after a Hungarian noble family and claimed by both Budapest and Vienna, this torte is a showpiece of Viennese pastry shops, where it sits in the glass counter beside richer chocolate cakes. Five or six crisp-chewy almond meringue layers are stacked with a vanilla custard buttercream, then topped with white icing and the famous feathered chocolate lines. It has no flour at all, so it suits gluten-free guests. A common mistake is baking the layers too pale; they should be light golden, or they go soft and sticky in the cream. Chef's tip: draw the circles on baking paper first and spread the meringue to the line with a palette knife, so every layer matches.

140 min

Austrian Baking

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Linzer Torte

Linz, the Danube city in Upper Austria, has baked this tart for centuries, and it still fills bakery windows there all year, with extra demand in Advent. It is closer to a soft, crumbly nut biscuit than a pastry: ground hazelnuts, butter, cinnamon and cloves are pressed into the tin, filled with tart redcurrant jam and topped with a lattice. Serve a thin slice with coffee or tea. A common mistake is eating it on the day it is baked; it is much better after two or three days, when the jam soaks into the crumb. Chef's tip: chill the lattice strips on a tray before lifting them on, and they will not tear.

85 min

Austrian Baking

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Kardinalschnitten

Kardinalschnitten, 'cardinal slices', were created in Vienna with the colours of the Church in mind: white meringue and yellow sponge baked side by side in stripes. In Viennese cafés they are a light, summery choice with an afternoon coffee. Two baked sheets of alternating stripes sandwich a soft coffee cream, and the result is crisp, airy and cool at the same time. A common mistake is overfilling with cream that has not been stabilised; it squeezes out when you cut. Here a little mascarpone keeps the cream firm without gelatine. Chef's tip: pipe the meringue stripes first and the sponge in the gaps after, so the sponge does not spread flat.

75 min

Austrian Baking

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Steirische Kernöl-Eierspeis

Eierspeis is the Austrian word for scrambled eggs, and in Styria they get a final drizzle of the region's dark green pumpkin seed oil. It is a farmhouse breakfast or a late-night snack after a long evening in a Graz wine bar, eaten straight from the small pan it was cooked in with a slice of rye bread. The eggs are soft and creamy in big folds, and the oil adds a toasted, nutty depth that tastes almost like brown butter. A common mistake is stirring too fast on a high heat, which gives small dry crumbs instead of soft curds. Chef's tip: salt the eggs a few minutes before cooking; it helps them set more tenderly.

8 min

Austrian Breakfast & Brunch

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Steirische Kürbiscremesuppe

When the pumpkin fields of Styria turn orange in October, every inn from Graz to the Slovenian border puts this soup on the board. It is velvety and gently sweet, with a little nutmeg and a dash of vinegar for lift, and comes to the table with a swirl of almost black pumpkin seed oil and a scattering of toasted seeds. Serve it as a starter before a Sunday roast or with crusty bread for supper. A common mistake is boiling the soup hard after the cream goes in, which can split it and dull the colour. Check the stock if you need it gluten free. Chef's tip: toast the seeds dry in a pan until they puff and pop; it takes 3 minutes and doubles the nutty flavour.

40 min

Austrian Soups

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Sachertorte

This dense, dark chocolate torte is Vienna's most famous cake, eaten in coffee houses all over the city with a cup of Melange and, always, a cloud of unsweetened whipped cream on the side. The sponge is made with melted chocolate and whisked egg whites, so it is fine-crumbed and slightly dry by design; a thin layer of sharp apricot jam runs through the middle and over the top, under a shiny, snappy chocolate glaze. A common mistake is pouring the glaze too hot or too cold; too hot and it runs off thin, too cold and it sets dull and lumpy. It is a cake for birthdays and Sunday visits, and it keeps well for days. Chef's tip: bake it the day before and let it rest overnight wrapped; it cuts far more neatly and the crumb softens.

120 min

Austrian Baking

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Punschkrapfen

Punschkrapfen are the bright pink cubes that glow from every Viennese Konditorei counter, especially in winter. Traditionally the filling of sponge crumbs, jam and chocolate is soaked in rum punch, which gives the cake its name, so the classic version contains alcohol. This recipe makes the alcohol-free version with orange juice and strong black tea, which keeps the fruity, warming flavour that children can eat too; to make the traditional one, swap 40 ml of the orange juice for dark rum. The sponge is moist and dense, the icing sweet and crackly. A common mistake is skipping the overnight press; the cubes fall apart when cut. Many pink colourings use carmine, made from insects, so choose a plant-based one such as beetroot red. Chef's tip: cut with a knife dipped in hot water and wiped between each cut for clean edges.

80 min

Austrian Baking

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Chinchulines

No proper Sunday asado in Buenos Aires province or the interior is complete without a round of achuras, and chinchulines are the boldest of them: beef small intestine, coiled on the grill and cooked slowly until the outside crackles like pork scratchings and the inside stays soft and rich with its own fat. Pass them round on a board with lemon and bread as a starter while the bigger cuts cook. Buy them already cleaned from a butcher or a Latin American meat counter, and rinse them again well at home. The usual mistake is too much heat: the outside burns long before the inside cooks. Offal must be cooked right through, with no soft, raw-looking parts. Chef's tip: simmer them briefly before grilling; it cleans them further, shortens the time on the coals and gives you a much more even crunch.

65 min

Argentinian Meat

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Mejillones a la provenzal

On the Atlantic coast around Puerto Madryn and the Golfo Nuevo, mussels from cold Patagonian waters are farmed and gathered in quantity, and seafood places along the rambla steam them a la provenzal, which in Argentina means lots of garlic and parsley. A splash of dry white wine goes into the pot; the alcohol mostly cooks off, but you can swap it for fish stock with a little lemon for an alcohol-free pot that tastes just as good. Serve with bread or chips to mop up the briny juices. Cooking mussels too long is the usual slip: they shrink and turn rubbery, so lift the lid as soon as most have opened. Before cooking, throw away any mussel with a broken shell or one that stays open when tapped; after cooking, discard any that stay shut. Chef's tip: keep the garlic in gently warm oil until it just smells sweet; brown garlic turns bitter and dominates the mussels.

25 min

Argentinian Fish

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